My 8 YO DD still wets the bed. What do I do?

[StuckUpTheFarawayTree]

I have tried all sorts and it seems worse since we moved a year ago.

Tried bed mats, lifting her, making her go to loo at 10/11pm fully awake. Tried pull ups. Still she wets almost every night, sometimes twice.

What can I do to help her?

Gp.

It's v common.

Usually, if all else is equal, they will suggest meds ( desmopressin) or an enuresis alarm.

If she hasn't started producing the hormone in high enough quantity yet, the meds will help. If she has and she's just a heavy sleeper, the alarm will help.

I like malem alarms, but someone posted a good wireless the other day.

Dd2 was dry in two weeks using an alarm, but it depends on the cause.

Gp will sort, or sometimes refer to enuresis clinic depending on local services.

okay

has she ever been dry at night?

see GP, ask for a referral to enuresis clinic, there are meds and whatnot that can help

in the meantime:

increase daily fluid intake (small bladder = less volume = less holding capacity) milk or water best, red/brown drinks can irritate bladder, get school onside to remind her to drink during the school day

wee/teeth/wee at bedtime (this is called double-voiding)

don't lift, this reinforces wee-in-your-sleep

double/triple dress the bed (waterproof/bottom sheet, waterproof/bottom sheet)

look at eric for more guidance

bedwetting v v common, not a source of shame (I know you haven't indicated this but saying anyway)

lots of MNers with exp of bedwetters, you are not alone x

First, go to the doctor and ask for a referral to the enuresis nurse at your local hospital or outpatients. 8 years old is just out of the 'normal' age range to develop dryness so they should be happy to refer you.

For my DS, the simple fact that 'something was being done' made a big difference.

Simple things you can do in the meantime:

• 'Front load' drinks during the day. Get your daughter to drink LOTS, but drink it early in the day - so 2 drinks before leaving the house every moring, a drink at break time in school, a drink at lunchtime, drink at end of school, drink with snack or supper at 5 or 6 pm...and then nothing.
• Encourage your daughter to visit the toilet regularly during the day.
• Make sure that she's not constipated by giving her lots of fruit, dried fruit and veg.
• 'Double empty' just before bed. Get your daughter to go to the toilet just before bedtime, then again 10 minutes later (we do it before and after teeth cleaning).
• Avoid purple drinks, and fizzy drinks.
• Observe the pattern of wetting because this will help in your discussions. Wetting early in the night (e.g. before midnight) is likely to mean that your DD is not producing enough of the hormone that down-regulates urine production. Tablets and sprays of this hormone are available via thw doctor if after investigation this turns out to be the case. On the other hand, bedwetting late in the night, in the early morning, means that 'full bladder' signals aren't waking your daughter up, so in that case alarm systems may work well to 're-train' this.

Good luck! We got there...eventually!

(Sorry, cross post!)

My 8 year old DS has just gone through treatment at the local enuresis clinic. Got a referral via our GP. Before treatment, he was wet virtually every night. He wore pull-ups and we were lifting him around 1130 every evening in the hope that he might be dry the rest of the night. The advice we were given was as BoysAreLikeDogs has posted.

The best investment I made prior to him starting treatment was 2 "industrial" incontinence pads from Amazon Aquasolari Bed Pads. Cost about £30. I got 2 so that I always had a spare to put back on the bed - essential in the early days! The hardest thing was not lifting him initially as we knew he would probably be wet.

He had an malem alarm to wear in bed (provided on loan from the clinic) which had a clip for his pants and a small control box which attached to his pyjamas. If he started to wee whilst asleep it let off a variety of loud bleeps and the control box vibrated. We had to record what happened each night i.e. did the alarm go off / wet or dry. We also had to ensure that he had 1.5 litres of water every day, split up into 250ml measures. I made sure he had at least 250ml at breakfast each day. I also got him a water bottle to take to school and his challenge was to drink most if not all of it by home time. I let his class teacher know as the extra intake of fluid had natural side effects as he then needed the loo during lessons.

He started with the alarm at the beginning of November. By Christmas he was dry (still wearing the alarm). We went back to the clinic in January and he doesn't have to wear the alarm now. Only 1 accident since Christmas.

I was beginning to despair but am amazed at the turnaround. I understand that alarms may not work in every case but there are alternative treatments available.

Good luck.

IME, before you are referred to the enuresis clinic, the GP will recommend getting her to drink much more during the early part of the day for the reason boys sets out.

Get an appointment and ask for the referral, but if you can tell him you've already tried that you might get through the system quicker.

Maybe over half-term when you have more control/knowledge of what she drinks ?

can I say I am so so pleased that no one has suggested start charts - there is no point as the child has no control over their nocturnal bedwetting

gawd bless us all who have sailed in the Good Ship Wet Bed

:-) Ah yes, that whole 'And can you explain to me just HOW the motivation of getting a star will work for my son when he is fast asleep?' conversation...

Thank you all. Looks like a trip to GP is in order. She only drinks water anyway, so can't change that. Also, during the day she often leaves it til the last minute, then has to run for it. I have tried pushing fluids, and even getting her to stop the flow halfway through a wee.

This is much more common that people admit! My brother wet the bed almost every night until he was 9, much to my mum's despair, she tried everything! In the end she borrowed a sort of mat from the doctors you put on the bed under the sheets and which peeps when it starts to get wet, waking up the child. Using this mat sorted it out in a week.

My DD wet the bed regularly until she was 7, we used to lift her every night and try every few months. It suddenly just clicked. She still wets the bed when she is overexcited or stressed about something or going down with something.
Go to your GPs and see what they say. But try to worry too much about it more than you have to.
Good luck!

Thank you. It's getting rather annoying though, having to wash the quilts and everything as much as I do. See what GP says...

I had to wash the quilt, pillow and bedding every day for over a decade. For wome years I had two wet children, and getting two complete beds done every day meant the washing machine and tumble dryer were never still. If the washing machine had broken down, I don't think I would ever have caught up.

The beeper worked for one of mine at about 8 or 9, and the other grew out of it at 13.

Me too. Still going here.